Evolve: Anthony Ghiglia

Evolve: Anthony Ghiglia

In November of 1998 I moved to Maui to get as much experience as I possibly could in heavier waves. I would surf Honolua Bay nearly every day that it broke. I got some of the best waves of my life as well as some of the worst beatings. It certainly helped me become a better swimmer. Also shown is a shot of me with one of my first water housings. It was an Aquatech housing equipped with a snow ski pole grip. Aquatech has certainly come a long way since then. That bowling right hander coming off my forehead is pretty radical too! Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

I shot this image sometime around 2000. This is the first image that I was really stoked on after figuring out the water shooting. This is Phil Goodrich in Mission Beach, where I lived at the time. Phil has always been an amazing artist since I've known him. Today he spends quite a bit of time in Indonesia painting and getting barreled out of his mind at Nias. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

I was finally starting to get more creative with the water photography while interning at Surfer and being inspired by all the amazing images that found their way across the light table. This shot of Larry Kraus was my first two-page spread in Surfer Magazine. Larry is a good friend today and we surf together all the time. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Back when this image was taken (2000) there were basically only a few guys shooting photos in San Diego. Tom Rulon covered south county well and Rob Gilley had North County locked up nice. While both of those guys would occasionally shoot in La Jolla, I made it a mission to shoot with as many of La Jolla's best surfers as I could. This is an image of Derek Dunfee on an absolutely flawless day. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Before Surfer started footing the travel bills for me, occasionally a friend/pro surfer would help pay my way. Sean Fowler, shown here, bought me a ticket to Mainland Mexico back in 2000 for $200. I spent two weeks with him shooting in heavy beach break and exploring some remote areas of Mex. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This shot of Sean from the same trip is what I would call an "almost successful" fisheye water image. As digital had not really come along yet, I had to wait to get film back to evaluate my images. Needless to say, figuring out how to angle the lens in the wave just right is much more simple when you can see the instant results of digital. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

The first big trip I did on the magazine's dime was a two week trip to Cabo San Lucas. While the trip was a success, I since figured out that traveling with eight guys is not ideal. Pictured left to right: Julian Mullins, Justin Quirk, Derek Dunfee, Micah Nickens, Brian Aresco, Sean Taylor, Chris Abad and Justin Matteson. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This image of Justin Quirk from that same trip to Cabo ended up getting us my first cover of the magazine in October 2003. That was one of the most exciting days of my life and really signified a lot in my career and my journey as a photographer. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Having now figured out the right angles to hold to camera in the water, I was doing whatever I could to get something unique for myself. Getting close to the impact of the lip is certainly one way to do that. Jesse Evans pictured here in Mexico around 2004. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

I used to surf Blacks all the time in the 90's when I was in college. Although, It was not until around 2001, when this image was taken, that the real love affair began. I have since shot down at Blacks hundreds of times and it remains my favorite place in San Diego to shoot. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

In 2005 I went to Hawaii with Surfer and stayed at the house they had rented at Log Cabins. It was my first time there shooting for the magazine. I think I slept on one end of a sofa if memory serves me. I shot this image of Laurie Towner at Off-the-Wall from the house with a long lens. Sometimes it can take just one wave to put a surfer on the map. This was Laurie's wave. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

A little out of order here but this image of Pipeline from 2003 is still one of my favorite images I have ever captured in Hawaii. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This image has to be around from around 2006. I was on a trip with Derek Dunfee, Ian Rotgans, Nico Becerra and Justin Quirk down in Cabo. I had flooded one of my water housing the night before trying to shoot some flash photography in the water. Somehow, I was still able to use the 15mm lens with another camera in another housing the next day. I shot three rolls of film this session. Derek ended up getting the cover of a local San Diego magazine called Surfshot and Ian scored the opening spread of Surfer. The reason I included this image is because it was around this time in my career when I really started finding the importance of shooting empty waves. Reason being is that they are timeless images. Whereas, any image with a surfer in it can often become dated, thus giving it a shorter window of profitable use in the surf industry. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

As I continued to transform my work, I found myself looking for anything different that I thought might make for an impactful image. This photo was shot with a long lens looking almost straight down on a clean wave rolling into Blacks Beach. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Along with looking for unique angles, I was starting to experiment more with motion blurs in action shots. Again, this can be a bit of trial and error with film, which can get expensive. Luckily for me, Surfer was flowing me film and processing, which can incur costs that add up very quick. This image is of Timmy Curran on a trip we did to the Dominican Republic in 2005. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

One of the most rewarding things you can do as a surf photographer is find a new wave that nobody has surfed before. I've driven by this spot dozens of times and have never seen it actually break. In fact, I didn't even know there was a wave here and it had been right in front of me for years. Some "guys" and I shot photos for about an hour here before the tide got weird and it completely shut off. I check this spot every time I am in the area and I've never seen it break since this day. By the way, another one of the most rewarding things a photographer can do is to keep a spot secret. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This shot of Dane Gudauskas in Pacific Beach is one of the last time I can remember shooting film in the water as a mainstay. The surf publications were some of the last mags to figure out how to transition to digital processing. They knew, along with all us photographers, that we would all have to "go back to school" to figure out how all this stuff works. There were some photographers who strongly resisted digital. They likely had some foresight into the onsluaght of imagery that would bombard their industry from outsiders. While this has become the reality, I decided to embrace the technology and do everything I could to educate myself about it. The reality to me was that photographers have tools. With digital, I simply have a lot more of them to achieve my representation of an image. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

The digital boom! This image was one of my first ever digital photos shot in the water in Mexico (2004 according to the file information). Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

While this image is an example of a digital photography possibly pushed a little too far, the reason it's included is because it was around this time that I relocated residence to the Windansea area of La Jolla. My morning routine nearly everyday that I was in the country would include driving by every reef in La Jolla to see if anything was worth shooting. I actually still do this most days now. As it pertains to my photography, it was after I moved to La Jolla that I also started getting back in touch with shooting subject matter outside of surfing and more towards the environment. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

A couple years after moving to La Jolla I shot this image of the Windansea shack during a rare lightning storm. I shot photos in this location for about 4 hours until I finally got the shot I was waiting for. When I got home I did a quick process on this image and emailed it to about a dozen friends. The next day when I woke up I had over 400 new emails from people all over the world inquiring about this photo. I was really blown away. It gave me a glimpse of the impact that digital photography would have on my ability to share moments and experiences instantly. Coincidentally, this image was shot the same month that Facebook was launched. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Always looking for new angles, it only seemed natural to take to the skies. I shot this image of Malibu on a two day aerial shoot during one of the largest swells to hit California in a decade. January of 2009. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

All of my travels around the world lead me back to Blacks beach every time. Having gotten a bit bored with shooting fisheye all the time, I started mixing in different lenses in the water. It is such a refreshing challenge to shoot with a new in the water. It gives me a new way to see what's happening out there. This style master is Allen Johnson around 2006. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This image of Tiago Pires was shot in Portugal during a three week trip that would also take me to Spain and France. One of the best parts about the job is getting the opportunity to meet so many great people and have them share their home with you. Tiago is a great friend and showed me some really amazing places on this trip. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

When you swim hundreds of hours a year in the ocean with a camera, you get to know your way around the waves. It also helps to work with surfers like Nate Yeomans who know just how close to get to you without taking your face off. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This shot of Dusty Payne was from one of two trips I did with Nixon to Tavarua for their annual High Tide Hold 'Em poker tournament. If somebody would have told me 20 years ago that I would someday go on a trip with a bunch of pro surfers, an adult film star, and MMA fighter, a CIA agent and Tony Hawk I would have laughed. Well…go figure. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

One of the most influential surfers I've worked with in my career has to be Mike Losness. Mike and I are great friends. We both share a passion for the ocean but also a passion for creativity. When Mike and I were shooting a lot in the past we were very methodical about the images we wanted to get and how we were going to get them. Instead of the typical free surf photography session, Mike and I would plan out every detail of the shot before we actually attempted it. It was a complete collaboration. Working with Mike really progressed my photography and we've gotten some really amazing images together. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Part of growing as a photographer can be linked to growing as a person. I am fortunate to have met so many interesting people in my travels. Many of them have inspired me and my work alike. I met an aspiring photograher, Drew Cowan, while on a trip to El Salvador. Drew was traveling by himself across Central America in his truck searching for waves and documenting his journey. The conversations I've had with people like Drew about their lives have helped me grow as a photographer. By continuing to understanding the human emotion surrounding my subject matter I can use it as a reference to evoke that emotion with my photography. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This image was shot on a smaller day at Cloudbreak in Fiji. I've really started shooting and selling more images of empty waves in the last five or six years. I've found that I can target a broader range of clients with these types of images. I really enjoy shooting with talented surfers but there is something a bit more intimate with shooting empty waves. I feel connected to something bigger when I shoot images like this. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This image from Nicaragua is a good example of a wave's relationship with it's surroundings. Being a part of that surrounding and specifically being alone in that surrounding is what I try to convey in these types of images. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This wave is in Mexico and I put it in here to really give you an idea what I'm talking about. Waves can be playful and they can be angry. Their form can portray dozens of unique emotions. When I shoot waves I try to capture these emotions. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

As surfers, we try to harness the waves emotions or mood when we ride it. In most recent years I have tried to figure out ways to connect that human emotion with the waves emotion. Whether it be a different composition, a facial expression or a surfer's body language, my intent has really been guided by the relationship between the two subjects. This is Ryan Bracker at Blacks, one of the closest relationships I've examined between a surfer and a wave. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Again with Ryan Bracker now in Mexico, this image was shot a couple years ago. I may get a 1000 images before I get one that I really think has that connection between surfer and wave. You'll also notice that I've taken full advantage of all the tools I now have in photography to create something a bit more unique than what Fuji Velvia film could ever do for me. Film will always have a place in my heart and in my work. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Capturing that connection doesn't always have to be while riding a wave. There are so many subtle intimate moments that happen in the water in between the actual ride. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

A soft dimpled set wave comes rolling into the shores at Blacks Beach. In the early years of my work I would have completely missed something so simple as this moment, which now evokes as much interest, if not more, for me as high action. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

By deconstructing and examining the intricate parts of a wave I feel like I can understand the relationships they have with the rest of the wave. The intent of this image was to just focus on the lip of the wave, isolating it as its own element. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

Having since stopped working for Surfer Magazine, I now go on the occasional trip with friends and private parties looking to document their own surf adventures. A couple years ago some friends took me on a boat trip to the Coiba Islands off Panama's Pacific coast. After shooting in the water for a couple hours I decided to explore the beach only to find several salt water croc tracks leading out to the lineup. Sometimes there is more to the adventure than you bargain for. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

This was shot a couple years ago on another private trip I did to Mexico. Alex Gray happened to be down there with a few guys and Tom Carey. Here he is clocking in lots of tube time. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

The last private trip I did was to the Marshall Islands last year. Most of my work has shifted towards environmental work as well as images to license and sell on my prints website. This is the latest release shot using an over/under housing in one of the most pristine places I've ever been to. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

And finally, I thought I'd include two images I have shot in the past week. Both were shot in my hometown of La Jolla on a new series I am working on which will release shortly. I hope you have enjoyed the gallery and the evolution of my work. It has been a lot of fun revisiting some old images and reminding myself how truly fortunate I have been to live my dream and and follow my passion. Photo: Anthony Ghiglia

When I was approached by The Inertia to put together a photo feature depicting the evolution of my work I thought it would be a breeze. A few simple clicks in some photo editing software and, ‘Voila!’I’d be all done. However, after giving it a little thought, I realized that my original solution simply would not truly illustrate the path I’ve taken to get where I am in my career today. I will skip all the details of how I got my first camera as a child, photographed pretty much every object I saw for most of my youth and worked my way through college as a photographer shooting sorority parties. All and more is true, by the way. Instead, I think it’s most accurate to explain how my photography journey really began as a dream.

When I was about 11 years old, my mom got me a subscription to Surfer Magazine. We were living in Washington state at the time, far from any convenient surf access. Each month when the new magazine would come in the mail, I would drop everything and examine every image in the mag. I would read about all the far off places that photographers like Jeff Divine, Art Brewer and Don King would travel to in search of perfect waves and adventure. They had the best job in the world as far as I could tell, and so ensued the dream.

Fast forward to 1999. After spending a year in Maui working as a waiter and surfing every day, then traveling to Central America for a few months, I took a job in Los Angeles with the hopes of getting great experience in the business world and making some real money. That lasted about six months before I realized there was something truly lacking in my life. While I was making decent money, there was no real intrinsic reward achieved with the work I was doing. That’s when I decided to dive headfirst into surf photography. It was time for me to make my dream a reality.

Within six months of making that decision, I had moved back to San Diego. I bought a water housing and new camera gear. I started shooting photos in the water nearly every day and landed my first 1/2 page image in Surfer Magazine. One month thereafter, I was hired on as an intern in the photo department at Surfer under photo editor Jason Murray. After four months of working as an intern, I was hired on as a retained staff photographer for the magazine. I spent the next 11 years traveling the world for Surfer Mag creating my own images and finding my own adventures.

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I feel truly blessed to have realized my dream and been given the opportunity to see it through. My deep-rooted passion for photography, surfing, waves and the beauty that surrounds them is what drives my work today as it did as a child. I hope you enjoy the gallery I have put together which illustrates how my work has evolved since pursuing my passion, something I believe is never too late in life to start.

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Founded in 2010, The Inertia is the definitive voice of surf and outdoors. We approach the natural world and its devoted culture with curiosity, optimism, and respect. We take pride in bringing our passion for the oceans and mountains to life through original films, reporting, and monumental gatherings. We aim to make a positive impact on our planet through partnerships with nonprofits working hard to preserve earth’s sacred places.